


Palulukan Makto

by karmula



Category: Avatar (2009)
Genre: Character Study, Fairy Tale Style, Fix-it fic, Gen, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Movie(s), Story, Story within a Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 20:46:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5063509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karmula/pseuds/karmula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Children, children! Gather round; it is time for a story. Don’t you want to hear the story of Palulukan Makto? It is a good one. You do? Ah, I thought so. Sit, and hush. If I hear even one whisper, I will stop, and you will never know the end to the story. We don’t want that now, do we? Thank you, that’s much better. Now…</p><p>(Alternatively: a short, post-canon character exploration piece for Neytiri, written in the style of Omaticaya oral history.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Palulukan Makto

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters portrayed, nor do I claim to. All rights go to the creators of James Cameron's Avatar (2009).

Children, children! Gather round; it is time for a story. Come, sit. Zuleika, I said _sit_. Don’t you want to hear the story of Palulukan Makto? It is a good one. You do? Ah, I thought so. Sit, and hush. If I hear even one whisper, I will stop, and you will never know the end to the story. We don’t want that now, do we? Thank you, that’s much better. Now…

Since the time of the First Songs, only six Na’vi have ever bonded with Toruk, many of them Omaticaya. They are riders of Toruk, Toruk Makto, and are known for their courage and strength. Sometimes, they used this strength to bring the many clans together in times of great sorrow, when the power of the People was needed to fight a common enemy.

The sixth Toruk Makto, Olo'eyktan Jakesully, was a dreamwalker, a Sky Person who became Omaticaya. Children, you all know the songs. He brought the People together in the time of the Greatest Sorrow, when fire fell like rain upon the land and the very air turned to ash, when Hometree was toppled and the Tree of Voices crushed beneath great round feet. He fought against his own people, riding the wind on Toruk’s back, leading the charge.

Many Na’vi were killed that day, Omaticaya and others. Great warriors fell. Among them, Tsu’tey son of Ateyo, who was Olo'eyktan before Jakesully. Many ikran were killed, also. Neytiri son of Eytukan – perhaps you have heard of her – lost her beloved Seze. Children, you cannot imagine how she felt, and I pray you never will, for to lose one with whom you have bonded is devastating.

As she mourned for her fallen mount, the growl of a palulukan rumbled in her ears. Ah! Such a sound has been heard by many, but most have never lived to tell the tale, for palulukan is the fiercest creature of the forest. Its burnished black skin gleamed with the blood of its prey, and Neytiri feared that she would be next. Instead, palulukan bowed its head to the ground in submission.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Sky People, their Olo’eyktan, Quaritch, had abandoned his flying shell and had donned another skin. The Sky People were fond of disguises, weren’t they, children? This one was hard and cold, grey like stones. Very hard to even scratch, let alone kill. He found himself in a clearing in the forest, where he could see a long and low shape. It was the place where the Sky People joined with their false bodies, and the Sky Person Jakesully was inside. But Quaritch was searching for Jakesully’s Na’vi body.

Instead, he stumbled across Neytiri, now on the back of the palulukan. Tsaheylu was made, and they were bonded. Foolish man! He did not see her strength – but we know, don’t we children? We know she was the first, and still the only, to ever bond with Palulukan. She fought bravely, charging and pushing him back. But even the fearsome palulukan, king on the land, was no match for the alien’s weapons, and Quaritch pierced the creature’s heart, left unscathed.

Now Neytiri was pinned beneath her mount, and Quaritch lumbered forward, ready to strike.

Then, my children, Jakesully appeared! He distracted Quaritch, who became enraged and tried to destroy the place where the aliens made their connections. Jakesully pulled him back, knowing that if he harmed the structure any further his presence in this body would be lost, but Quaritch held him tight, a knife at his throat.

All seemed lost; but Neytiri, now and forever the great Palulukan Makto, the first to ever bond with the beast, squirmed from beneath palulukan and sent her arrow into the man they called Quaritch’s heart. Once, twice, then all was over. Quaritch was dead, and Neytiri had saved Jakesully.

When the battle was over, Neytiri crept back into the forest. Jakesully insisted on joining her, but she refused. There was something she had to do.

Beside her palulukan’s empty body, she sat, and she waited. And waited. And waited…

A twig cracked. Neytiri stood, peering through the trees. A low, hunched silhouette was visible, prowling closer. A palulukan. This was even larger than the last, its golden eyes appraising her with distrust. It growled, baring its fangs, and lunged.

But Neytiri knew what to do. As she had done with her beloved Seze all those years ago, she tackled the beast, pinning it to the ground. A fang, sharp as arrowheads, grazed her thigh as she held the struggling creature down. Ignoring the pain, Neytiri slipped her queue over her shoulder and formed tsaheylu; thus, against all odds, Neytiri had triumphed, and the two were bonded.

When her palulukan, which she named Eytukan to honour her father, died, Neytiri never bonded with another palulukan again, though she knew it was possible, as she wished to honour the tradition the Omaticaya people have between riders and their ikran. As Palulukan Makto, she reigned beside her mate Jakesully, honouring her mother’s wish by remaining Tsahik, but staying true to herself by advising Jakesully on all things Olo’eyktan and by remaining a warrior.

And that, children, is how Neytiri became the first Palulukan Makto, and none have ever followed since.


End file.
